The present application relates to a semiconductor structure and a method of forming the same. More particularly, the present application relates to a method for monolithically integrating semiconductor waveguides, photodetectors and logic devices, i.e., field effect transistors, on a same substrate. The present application also relates to a semiconductor structure that includes a semiconductor waveguide, a photodetector and a logic device integrated on a same substrate.
Silicon photonics can potentially improve both on-chip and off-chip communication bandwidth. In some cases, light can be routed across the chip using silicon waveguides at an optical wavelength of 1.3 microns or 1.55 microns, and sensed using semiconductor photodetectors and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) amplifiers. The integration of silicon photonics with photodetectors and CMOS type devices enables “point-to-point” communication links or “one-to-many” communication links. One problem with such a system is that it remains difficult to integrate silicon photonics with photodetectors and CMOS type devices utilizing a same substrate.